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Operation Teddy Bears: Southern Partnership Station Service Members Deliver Donations
TRUJILLO, Honduras (NNS) -- U.S. Sailors, Marines and Soldiers distributed soft toys donated from "Loving Hugs" charity to approximately 20 children of the Juan Ramon Salgado School in Trujillo, Honduras as part of a Southern Partnership Station-Joint High Speed Vessel 2015 (SPS-JHSV 15) community relations event.
The service members were deployed as part of an Adaptive Force Package (AFP) in support of SPS-JHSV 15 to conduct subject matter expert exchanges and build partnerships with our Central and South American counterparts.
The AFP personnel took a break to bring smiles and performed a mock-promotion ceremony for the children in attendance.
The purpose of the event was to foster a better relationship with the Trujillo community. Service members also took the opportunity to practice their Spanish with teachers and children.
SPS-JHSV 15 returned to Honduras to continue its efforts to foster a cooperative relationship with Honduras as well as provide assistance through small-scale engineering construction projects and subject matter expert exchanges.
Children stood in line to receive toys from service members. U.S. Marines parted with their rank insignias and "ceremoniously promoted" children in attendance. U.S. Soldiers presented children with rank, shoulder sleeve insignias and their U.S. flags.
1st Lt. James Magee, a native of Buffalo, New York, assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is the combat engineer officer in charge of the Marine unit assigned to support the Seabees during SPS-JHSV 15.
"We just wanted to do something good for the children that deserve to have something nice done for them," Magee said. "They are kids, they deserve teddy bears."
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Raphael Landicho, a native of Riverside, California, also assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, is a field medicine technician who provided the teachers with elastic bandages and wraps to use in the classroom.
"This is a good start to build a good relationship with the people," said Landicho. "It's the children that are going to work with us in the future."
Southern Partnership Station-Joint High Speed Vessel 2015 provides an opportunity to strengthen partnerships with allies, friends and like-minded nations to enhance interoperability and improve the readiness of participating forces for a wide range of potential operations.
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet support U.S. Southern Command's joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to counter illicit trafficking, enhance interoperability and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions.
For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/cusns/.
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